An end-of-term feeling

Excluding this game, we're now only 6 away from getting up to date. It's still possible to wipe out the backlog just in time to regain it at the Major Open - and my showing at King's Place yesterday was not my best, so it's time to regain full focus.

But it's ironic to talk of full focus when looking at this game. It was Drunken Knights 3 vs Streatham 2 in the London League, and with eligibility rules continuing to tighten the screw I was now on board 2. Nevertheless, the chances leant towards us: 200-173, 167-174, e160-173, 163-168, 149-135, 156-128, 135-130, 142-153, 132-122, 107-93. I had white once more against Andrew Ponting (174), a repeat of a Castles vs West Wickham pairing a few months earlier. (We don't do club loyalty in London.) As in that game, I was captain here, albeit in an acting capacity. And of course it was this night on which half of the club's (analogue) clocks decided to pack up at once! Thankfully we soon had a spare...

Unlike the previous fixture, things went our way - 5½-4½ (WDWLDWDWLL). The last game was an adjournment, and of course I had no idea what the procedure is. Lucky I wasn't in charge of the match or anything...

I admit that I post this game more as an archivist than as an attempt to teach anything, since there is almost no content - I diverged from the earlier game only 4 moves from the end, and it turns out that the rest is all theory. 15. Rxa4 is probably the only variation worth paying any attention to. But when you're fed up with weekday evening games, you obviously take the quick draw when it's offered!

Thankfully, I now had something which I was more fired up for - the last 4NCL weekend of the season, where I hoped to drag Downend kicking and screaming into the promotion places.